Florida Panhandle & Tallahassee

[giradman]

Susan and I have been to Florida dozens of times but never to the geographic area called the Panhandle, basically an area extending east from Tallahassee, the capital of Florida to the western border of the state at Pensacola, near Mobile, Alabama (which we've visited a number of times - Susan's brother used to live there).

The first maps below show northern Florida - three of the arrows (to the left) on the initial map point to the places we stayed and visited; St. Augustine on the east coast, established in 1565, is the oldest European city in the Unitied States - when the Spanish controlled Florida, Pensacola & St. Augustine were the population centers - these towns were the 'capitals' of British West & East Florida during the approximate 20 year period of their era (1763-83) - the Spanish regained control of Florida after the American Revolution but ceded Florida to the United States in 1821; Florida became a state in 1845 - at first, the government alternated meeting in Pensacola & St. Augustine which was basically a 'drag', so in 1824, a point 'half way in-between' was chosen and Tallahassee became the territorial capital and remained so into statehood (see quote below w/ link at the end).

We just returned from a 6-night trip to the Panhandle - we flew into Tallahassee and rented a car, I then drove west (and into the Central Time Zone) to a resort w/i walking distance of Seaside, a popular retirement community. We stayed at the WaterColor Inn (see the map) - the Inn is part of a much larger resort property (best seen on the aerial view below) w/ many condos & houses that are privately owned and/or rented. Our room was excellent (one similar is also shown) w/ a deck view of the Gulf of Mexico - pics below show various parts of the Inn and the dining room. Dave

The Florida Panhandle, Northwest Florida, or West Florida, an informal, unofficial term for the northwestern part of Florida, is a strip of land roughly 200 miles long and 50 to 100 miles wide (320 km by 80 to 160 km), lying between Alabama on the north and the west, Georgia also on the north, and the Gulf of Mexico to the south. Its eastern boundary is arbitrarily defined. The terms West Florida and Northwest Florida are today generally synonymous with the Panhandle, although historically West Florida was the name of a British colony (1763–1783), later a Spanish colony (1783–1821), both of which included modern-day Florida west of the Apalachicola River as well as portions of what are now Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana.

As is the case with the other eight U.S. states that have panhandles, the geographic meaning of the term is inexact and elastic. References to the Florida Panhandle always include the ten counties west of the Apalachicola River, a natural geographic boundary, which was the historic dividing line between the British colonies of West Florida and East Florida. These western counties also lie in the Central Time Zone (with the exception of Gulf County, which is divided between the Eastern and Central Time zones), while the rest of the state is in the Eastern Time Zone.

References to the Panhandle may also include some or all of eight counties immediately east of the Apalachicola known as the Big Bend region, along the curve of Apalachee Bay. The largest city in the Panhandle is Tallahassee, the state capital, population 188,107 (2014). However, the largest population grouping is the Pensacola Metropolitan Area with a population of 474,081. The total population of the Panhandle, as of the 2010 Census, was 1,407,925 (Source.

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[scifan57]

Susan and I have been to Florida dozens of times but never to the geographic area called the Panhandle, basically an area extending east from Tallahassee, the capital of Florida to the western border of the state at Pensacola, near Mobile, Alabama (which we've visited a number of times - Susan's brother used to live there).

The first maps below show northern Florida - three of the arrows (to the left) on the initial map point to the places we stayed and visited; St. Augustine on the east coast, established in 1565, is the oldest European city in the Unitied States - when the Spanish controlled Florida, Pensacola & St. Augustine were the population centers - these towns were the 'capitals' of British West & East Florida during the approximate 20 year period of their era (1763-83) - the Spanish regained control of Florida after the American Revolution but ceded Florida to the United States in 1821; Florida became a state in 1845 - at first, the government alternated meeting in Pensacola & St. Augustine which was basically a 'drag', so in 1824, a point 'half way in-between' was chosen and Tallahassee became the territorial capital and remained so into statehood (see quote below w/ link at the end).

We just returned from a 6-night trip to the Panhandle - we flew into Tallahassee and rented a car, I then drove west (and into the Central Time Zone) to a resort w/i walking distance of Seaside, a popular retirement community. We stayed at the WaterColor Inn (see the map) - the Inn is part of a much larger resort property (best seen on the aerial view below) w/ many condos & houses that are privately owned and/or rented. Our room was excellent (one similar is also shown) w/ a deck view of the Gulf of Mexico - pics below show various parts of the Inn and the dining room. Dave


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The inn looks like a very nice place to stay. I assume that oysters are on the menu in the dining room? BTW, have you ever eaten oysters you've collected right off the rocks?

 

[giradman]

The inn looks like a very nice place to stay. I assume that oysters are on the menu in the dining room? BTW, have you ever eaten oysters you've collected right off the rocks?

Hi Scifan.. - the WaterColor Inn was a wonderful (5 nights, then 6th night in Tallahassee) experience - the room was marvelous and the staff attentive and superb. The first night, we had dinner at their dining room called Fish Out Of Water which was just excellent, however, no 'oysters on the half shell' - we both had their outstanding gazpacho (salad substitute); Susan had the Diver Scallops which must have been 2 inches or more across; I had their Cobia fish special - wish I had pics to show because the dishes were works of art w/ a plethora of flavors, tastes and textures; we finished off the dinner sharing a Strawberry Soufflé - the cost was exorbitant, so we did not return - there were SO many other less expensive eating options for us.

As to raw oysters, we did enjoy almost daily - all came from the famous Apalachicola bay area (see quote below & pic) which not only supplies most of Florida's oysters, but are shipped elsewhere - one of the restaurants that we frequent in our home town, Winston-Salem, serves just oysters from that Florida locale; the other local restaurant that we eat fresh oysters, sources their multiple offerings from the East Coast - unfortunately, we did not have the time to visit Apalachicola, not a far drive from the Panama City area. Dave

Apalachicola is still the home port for a variety of seafood workers, including oyster harvesters and shrimpers. More than 90% of Florida's oyster production is harvested from Apalachicola Bay. Every year the town hosts the Florida Seafood Festival. The bay is well protected by St. Vincent Island, Flag Island, Sand Island, St. George Island, and Cape St. George Island (Source).

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[giradman]

White Sands and Emerald Waters!

One of the main reasons that I wanted (after years of trying to convince Susan - ) to visit the Gulf Coast beaches of Florida's Panhandle was to appreciate their described beauty and the appearance of the sand. Below a quote (link provided) describing the origin of these sands which are some of the finest and whitest that I've ever seen - words are difficult, e.g. white, powdery, flour, snow, etc.

The first two pics below describe the MANY Florida beaches around the state (on the first image circled in blue is our location; the second pic shows are exact location @ WaterColor) - the next four images our my own around the beach of our Inn - amazingly white and pristine. The last four images from the web again showing the white sands of the area and also the varying colors of the water.

The northern Florida Gulf Coast beaches are some of the most beautiful in the United States - second quote below is a list of the top ten ranked HERE w/ a dominance of Floridian & Hawaiian beaches (of course, there are other lists that have different ones, so pick you preference?) - two on that list (w/ an *) are in the area we visited. Dave

Much of the sand on Florida beaches is made up of quartz crystals produced by the weathering of continental land masses like the Appalachian mountains. The quartz is washed down America's great rivers into the Atlantic and the Gulf of Mexico where it is carried onto the beaches by water currents and waves. Northwest Florida has some of the purest whitest sand anywhere in the state. Its dazzling crystals are nearly pure quartz resulting in soft fluffy sand that is a pleasure to walk on (Source).

Clearwater Beach (Florida)
Lanikai Beach (Hawaii)
Siesta Beach (Florida)
St. Pete’s Beach (Florida)
Waianapanapa Park (Hawaii)
Kaanapali Beach (Hawaii)
Pensacola Beach (Florida)*
La Jolla Shores (California)
St. Augustine Beach (Florida)
Panama City Beach (Florida)*

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[scifan57]

White Sands and Emerald Waters!

One of the main reasons that I wanted (after years of trying to convince Susan - ) to visit the Gulf Coast beaches of Florida's Panhandle was to appreciate their described beauty and the appearance of the sand. Below a quote (link provided) describing the origin of these sands which are some of the finest and whitest that I've ever seen - words are difficult, e.g. white, powdery, flour, snow, etc.

The first two pics below describe the MANY Florida beaches around the state (on the first image circled in blue is our location; the second pic shows are exact location @ WaterColor) - the next four images our my own around the beach of our Inn - amazingly white and pristine. The last four images from the web again showing the white sands of the area and also the varying colors of the water.

The northern Florida Gulf Coast beaches are some of the most beautiful in the United States - second quote below is a list of the top ten ranked HERE w/ a dominance of Floridian & Hawaiian beaches (of course, there are other lists that have different ones, so pick you preference?) - two on that list (w/ an *) are in the area we visited. Dave




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I've seen beaches that white in Hawaii and they also have beaches with black sand. I assume they could get quite hot under the tropical sun.

 

[giradman]

I've seen beaches that white in Hawaii and they also have beaches with black sand. I assume they could get quite hot under the tropical sun.

Yep, I've been on those beaches in Hawaii - we did walk on a number of beaches w/ temps in the low 80s (i.e. F) - really not hot at all; of course, north Florida is really not a tropical climate. But, I must say that having been on MANY beaches over the decades, their 'whiteness' here was surprising to me - my next posts will be about our day trip to Pensacola which included a visit to the Gulf Shores National Seashore and Fort Pickens - a couple pics below driving into the area - in all honesty, I was not sure that what was adjacent to the road was sand or snow - Dave
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[scifan57]

Yep, I've been on those beaches in Hawaii - we did walk on a number of beaches w/ temps in the low 80s (i.e. F) - really not hot at all; of course, north Florida is really not a tropical climate. But, I must say that having been on MANY beaches over the decades, their 'whiteness' here was surprising to me - my next posts will be about our day trip to Pensacola which included a visit to the Gulf Shores National Seashore and Fort Pickens - a couple pics below driving into the area - in all honesty, I was not sure that what was adjacent to the road was sand or snow - Dave
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You're right, especially in the first picture. It looks just like a highway in the wintertime.

 

[giradman]

You're right, especially in the first picture. It looks just like a highway in the wintertime.

Once entering the gate to the National Seashore and driving to Fort Pickens, the road was like that for a number of miles and often looked like snow spilling onto to the sides - the pic is from the web (not a lot of places to stop and take photos), but is exactly the view seen from our car - eerie! Dave

 

[giradman]

Pensacola - City of Five Flags

On our first full day on the Panhandle, we made the 2-hour drive to Pensacola (see quotes below and maps) - our first stop was the Gulf Islands National Seashore & Ft. Pickens on Santa Rosa Island (shown on the maps); our second stop was the Naval Air Station, and specifically the National Museum of Naval Aviation - there were a number of other sites to see, including the downtown historic district, but we just did not have enough time.

Pensacola was first established in the late 1550s (a half dozen or so years before St. Augustine in 1565), but the settlement was not permanent - the second attempt came after the founding of St. Augustine. We had lunch on Pensacola Bay at Nick's Boathouse - first shared a dozen Apalachicola oysters - I had a mixed green salad w/ fresh grilled grouper, while Susan had the shrimp & grits.

Next posts will cover the places visited mentioned above. Dave

P.S. the name City of Five Flags (explained below) refers to the governments that ruled the city for nearly 500 years, i.e. Spain, France, Great Britain, United States, & Confederate States of America.

Pensacola is the westernmost city in the Florida Panhandle and the county seat of Escambia County, Florida, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 51,923. Pensacola is the principal city of the Pensacola metropolitan area, which had an estimated 461,227 residents in 2012.

Pensacola is a sea port on Pensacola Bay, which is protected by the barrier island of Santa Rosa and connects to the Gulf of Mexico. A large United States Naval Air Station, the first in the United States, is located southwest of Pensacola near Warrington; it is the base of the Blue Angels flight demonstration team and the National Naval Aviation Museum (Source).

The area was originally inhabited by Muskogean peoples. The Pensacola people lived there at the time of European contact, and Creek people frequently visited and traded from present-day southern Alabama. Spanish explorer Tristán de Luna founded a short-lived settlement in 1559. In 1698 the Spanish established a presidio in the area, from which the modern city gradually developed. The area changed hands several times as European powers competed in North America. During Florida's British rule (1763–1789), fortifications were strengthened.

It is nicknamed "The City of Five Flags", due to the five governments that have ruled it during its history: the flags of Spain(Castile), France, Great Britain, the United States of America and the Confederate States of America. Other nicknames include "World's Whitest Beaches" (due to the white sand of Florida panhandle beaches), "Cradle of Naval Aviation", "Western Gate to the Sunshine State", "America's First Settlement", "Emerald Coast", "Redneck Riviera”, and "Red Snapper Capital of the World” (Source).

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[giradman]

Fort Pickens & Gulf Islands National Seashore

We entered the Gulf Islands National Seashore via the National Park gate and drove a two-lane road often lined by the whitish sand that I've ever seen and looking like snow (see one of my previous pics). Our objective was to visit Fort Pickens, a pentagonal masonry fort near the tip of Santa Rosa Island; construction lasted about 5 years (1829-1834) and the labor was done mostly by slaves - see the quotes below, the first a general summary and the second about the fort's history during the Civil War, the only time that the structure was used in battle.

The entry to Pensacola Bay was protected by a number of forts and numerous batteries (see the first pic below, followed by aerial views of the current structure); subsequent images show some inside & outside views of the fort's remains, including a number of large cannon; a huge explosion occurred in 1899 and bricks were thrown across the bay to Ft. Barrancas. In the 1890s, Pensacola Battery was built w/i Ft. Pickens (the black structure on one of the aerial views) - "the position of the battery illustrates the evolution of coastal defenses from brick and stone fortifications to the modern reinforced concrete installations. Begun in 1898, Battery Pensacola mounted two 12-inch rifles on disappearing carriages capable of firing 1,070 lb. shells approximately 8 miles" - amazing the size of these two cannon.

Beach roaming, surf fishing, camping, etc. are just a few of the many activities available on the National Seashore - there is a fee to enter the area, but we have 'Senior Passes' which allowed us in free. Dave

Fort Pickens is a pentagonal historic United States military fort on Santa Rosa Island in the Pensacola, Florida, area. It is named after American Revolutionary War hero Andrew Pickens. The fort was completed in 1834 and remained in use until 1947. Fort Pickens is included within the Gulf Islands National Seashore, and as such, is administered by the National Park Service.

After the War of 1812, the United States decided to fortify all of its major ports. French engineer Simon Bernard was appointed to design Fort Pickens. Construction of the fort lasted from 1829 to 1834, with 21.5 million bricks being used to build it. Much of the construction was done by black slaves. Its construction was supervised by Colonel William H. Chase of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. During the American Civil War, he joined the Confederacy and was appointed to command Florida troops.

Fort Pickens was the largest of a group of forts designed to fortify Pensacola Harbor. It supplemented Fort Barrancas, Fort McRee, and the Navy Yard. Located at the western tip of Santa Rosa Island, just offshore from the mainland, Pickens guarded the island and the entrance to the harbor (Source).

By the time of the American Civil War, Fort Pickens had not been occupied since the Mexican–American War. Despite its dilapidated condition, Lieutenant Adam J. Slemmer, in charge of United States forces at Fort Barrancas, determined that Pickens was the most defensible of the posts in the area. His decision to abandon Barrancas was hastened when, around midnight of January 8, 1861, his guards repelled a group of local men intending to take the fort. Some historians suggest that these were the first shots fired by United States forces in the Civil War.

Shortly after this incident, on January 10, 1861, the day Florida declared its secession from the Union, Slemmer destroyed over 20,000 pounds of gunpowder at Fort McRee, spiked the guns at Barrancas, and evacuated with 51 soldiers and 30 sailors to Fort Pickens. On January 15, 1861 and January 18, 1861, Slemmer refused demands for surrender from Florida militia Colonel William Henry Chase, who had designed and constructed the fort while a captain in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Slemmer held the fort against Confederate threat of attack until reinforced and relieved in April 1861 by Colonel Harvey Brown. Despite repeated Confederate military threats, Fort Pickens was one of the few Southern forts to remain in Union hands throughout the Civil War.[2]

The fort was reinforced by troops and material sent by Montgomery C. Meigs, an Army engineer tasked by President Abraham Lincoln and Secretary of War Seward to draw up a plan to reinforce Fort Pickens. Meigs also managed construction of the Washington Aqueduct and the dome on the U.S. Capitol in Washington, DC (Source).

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[scifan57]

Fort Pickens & Gulf Islands National Seashore

We entered the Gulf Islands National Seashore via the National Park gate and drove a two-lane road often lined by the whitish sand that I've ever seen and looking like snow (see one of my previous pics). Our objective was to visit Fort Pickens, a pentagonal masonry fort near the tip of Santa Rosa Island; construction lasted about 5 years (1829-1834) and the labor was done mostly by slaves - see the quotes below, the first a general summary and the second about the fort's history during the Civil War, the only time that the structure was used in battle.

The entry to Pensacola Bay was protected by a number of forts and numerous batteries (see the first pic below, followed by aerial views of the current structure); subsequent images show some inside & outside views of the fort's remains, including a number of large cannon; a huge explosion occurred in 1899 and bricks were thrown across the bay to Ft. Barrancas. In the 1890s, Pensacola Battery was built w/i Ft. Pickens (the black structure on one of the aerial views) - "the position of the battery illustrates the evolution of coastal defenses from brick and stone fortifications to the modern reinforced concrete installations. Begun in 1898, Battery Pensacola mounted two 12-inch rifles on disappearing carriages capable of firing 1,070 lb. shells approximately 8 miles" - amazing the size of these two cannon.

Beach roaming, surf fishing, camping, etc. are just a few of the many activities available on the National Seashore - there is a fee to enter the area, but we have 'Senior Passes' which allowed us in free. Dave




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Your post was very interesting reading, thanks for posting it.

 

[giradman]

Your post was very interesting reading, thanks for posting it.

Thanks Scifan.. - the day was hot and the sun shinning - beautiful time to tour but cannot imagine being a bricklayer there in the 1830s! Dave

 

[scifan57]

Thanks Scifan.. - the day was hot and the sun shinning - beautiful time to tour but cannot imagine being a bricklayer there in the 1830s! Dave

Brick today is mostly used for decorative purposes. Today's bricklayers can't imagine what it was like to lay the millions of bricks necessary for a large structure such as the Fort.

 

[giradman]

National Naval Aviation Museum - Must Visit!

The National Naval Aviation Museum is on the grounds of the Pensacola Naval Air Station, and requires gated security checking (driver's licenses were fine for us) - the museum is described below - this is the home of the Navy's renowned Blue Angels - below are 10 pics showing the outside and an aerial view of the museum - there is a newer annex building that can also be seen.

We took a 2-hour 'wonderful' guided tour w/ a 71 y/o former airman officer who flew helicopters in Vietnam - he brought alive Naval aviation from its start and up to the present - highly recommended. The 'gift shop' is large and an iMax theater has multiple shows - we did not have time to see any films, unfortunately.

The following post are some more pics of the aircraft inside the buildings - for a listing of all in the collection, check the link above at the bottom (nearly each item in that list has links for those interested). Dave

P.S. the Blue Angels Hall is officially the Blue Angels Atrium just to be precise.

The National Naval Aviation Museum is a military and aerospace museum located at Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida. The museum was established 14 December 1962 with the initial facility located in a cramped 8,500 square foot building aboard the air station that had been erected during World War II and which was dedicated in June 1963. The Phase I portion of the current facility was dedicated Sunday 13 April 1975, although it had been informally open since November 1974. Construction of the new location began in November 1972.

The museum is devoted to the history of naval aviation, including that of the United States Navy, the United States Marine Corps, and the United States Coast Guard. Its mission is "to select, collect, preserve and display” appropriate memorabilia representative of the development, growth and historic heritage of United States Naval Aviation. More than 150 aircraft and spacecraft are on display, including four former Blue Angel A-4 Skyhawks, the Curtiss NC-4 (the first aircraft to cross the Atlantic), U. S. Coast Guard helicopters, biplanes, a K-47 Airship control gondola and tail fin, an aircraft that President George H. W. Bush trained in, and the S-3 Viking used to transport President George W. Bush to the USS Abraham Lincoln in 2003. These historic and one-of-a-kind aircraft are displayed both inside the Museum's 300,000 square feet (30,000 m2) of exhibit space and outside on the Museum's 37-acre (150,000 m2) grounds.

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[giradman]

National Naval Aviation Museum - Continued!

Just some more pics for those really into this subject - again, the link in the previous post has a listing of all aircraft etc. in the collection w/ their own links. Dave
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